So in part I want to reclaim this space as MY space, not in the sense of ownership, but in the sense of more realistically but who I am. I am pretty far to the left, though with conservative streaks and a fair amount of inherent contradiction to boot. As an example, this will probably manifest itself in revealing more of my skepticism about my own stock in trade, seeing that some of my most deeply-engrained conservatism and traditionalism centers around the processes of learning and making art.

My disclaimer was an attempt at setting the stage for a bit of change… my separation of Ruminate from Cosmopoetica an even earlier one.

And while I think you’re right in claiming, “I am what I am”, this has reminded me of the traditional triumvirate of “taboo” topics for social decorum in conversation (though I’m never quite sure if it’s “Religion, Politics, and Sex” or “Religion, Politics, and Art”–perhaps it depends upon the setting). The Web may have changed all that however, and some may say that the willful omission of these topics is simply a polite self-repression anyway.

For my part the desire to keep politics unobtrusive in my social life is pretty strong, and so I treat it defensively, avoiding the topic unless challenged. In fact, I’ve often supposed that it may be this (perhaps overdeveloped) sense of preserving social norms and avoiding ineffectual conflict that tends to lessen the attraction of public protests to conservatives (though it’s always fun to jest about alternative explanations).